Chapter Thirty-Eight
Hailey
The brownstone looks exactly the same as when I left it.
Two weeks. I’ve been gone two weeks, and nothing about this building has changed. The same worn steps. The same brass knocker.
The same crack in the second-floor window.
I dig my keys out and unlock the door. Knox and Liam follow me up.
My apartment smells stale. Closed-up. The heat must have kicked off at some point because it’s barely warmer inside than out.
I flip the light switch and there it is: my life, exactly as I left it. Bookshelves overflowing. Dark walls I painted myself.
The dried roses hanging near the kitchen window, petals faded, stems brittle.
Knox moves past the threshold slowly. When he picked me up for our first date, he’d stood right there, too polite to come
in without invitation. Now he walks through my space like he’s finally been given permission.
Liam stops in front of the roses. His roses.
“You kept them,” he says quietly.
“I kept all of them.”
I watch them both taking in my space—Knox by the bookshelf now, running his finger along the spines, Liam still transfixed
by the dried petals he left on my doorstep week after week. They’ve spent months learning me from the outside. My patterns,
my habits, my secrets. They know if I’ve been bad or good. And they’re still here.
I pull my phone from my bag—the RCMP returned our belongings from the lodge before we flew out. The phone’s been dead since before the kidnapping. I’d meant to charge it that first night, but then the door splintered open and nothing else mattered.
The charger is where I always leave it. I connect the phone and wait.
The screen lights up. Then the notifications start.
Missed calls: forty-seven. Voicemails: twelve. Text messages: I stop counting after sixty.
Sloane’s messages escalate from concerned to frantic. The most recent, sent this morning: I don’t know what’s happening but please just let me know you’re alive. Please.
I’m alive, I type quickly. I’m so sorry. I’m back in the city. I’ll explain everything, I promise. I just need a few days.
The response comes in seconds: OH THANK GOD. I’ve been losing my mind. What the hell happened? Are you okay? Do you need me to come over?
I’m okay. Really. And no, don’t come over yet. I just need some time.
Time for WHAT? Hailey, you’ve been GONE for two weeks. TWO WEEKS with no word except that bullshit text about a “trip.” I
almost called your parents. Do you even have parents? I don’t actually know because you never talk about your life before
New York!
She’s not wrong.
I know. I’m sorry. I’ll tell you everything. Just . . . not yet. Please.
A long pause. Then: Fine. But you owe me the world’s longest explanation and at least three bottles of wine.
Deal.
I send a similar message to Chloe, who responds with seventeen exclamation points and a promise to murder me if I ever scare her like that again.
“Cole’s going to want answers,” Knox says. “I told him family emergency, but he’s not stupid.”
“What are you going to tell him?”
“Haven’t figured that out yet.” He pulls out his phone, scrolls through his own wall of messages. “He can wait until after
New Year’s, and after we hand off the diamond to Viktor. I don’t want Sloane and Cole anywhere near that when we do.”
Liam reaches up and touches one of the dried petals. “This is strange,” he says. “Being inside. Being here because you asked
me to be.”
“And now?”
“Now I don’t know what to do with my hands.”
Knox snorts. “Welcome to the club.”
“We should order food,” I say. “I’ve been craving Thai from that place on Smith Street for two weeks.”
We get Thai. We eat on the bed because my kitchen table only fits one. Knox argues about peanuts in pad thai—he’s wrong—while
Liam systematically steals every dumpling when we’re not looking.
Somewhere between the second bottle of wine and the last of the spring rolls, we start talking. Really talking. About what
happens next. About Knox going back to work, about me going back to Sloane, about Liam staying.
“I don’t know how to do this,” he admits. “The staying part. I haven’t had a real address in five years.”
“You learn. You figure it out.”
“And if I screw it up?”
“Then you have people who help you fix it.”
He looks at me, then at Knox.
“I love you,” I say. “Both of you. I need you to know that.”
Knox goes still. Liam’s breath catches.
“I love you too,” Liam says quietly. “Both of you. I’ve been trying not to say it because I thought it would ruin things.”
Knox reaches for us both, pulls us in. “I love you,” he says, rough and low. “I’m shit at saying it. But I do.”
We sit there tangled together, letting those words settle.
“You need your rest,” Knox says, solidifying that even in safety the man is always going to be my protector.
I pull back slightly from Knox’s embrace, meeting his gaze with a playful smirk. “Rest? With you two around? That’s ambitious.”
Liam stands up from the bed, stretching his arms overhead, his shirt riding up just enough to reveal a sliver of toned abdomen
that makes my pulse quicken. “She’s right. We’re not exactly the lullaby type.”
I don’t even hesitate before I completely strip down to nothing.
“Fuuuuuck,” Liam groans.
I stand there, exposed and unapologetic, feeling the cool draft from the window kiss my skin.
He steps closer, his hand reaching out to trace the curve of my hip, tentative at first, then bolder, his fingers warm against
my chilled flesh.
Knox doesn’t say a word; he just moves, closing the distance in one fluid motion, his mouth crashing onto mine. I arch into
him, my hands fisting in his shirt, pulling him tighter as Liam presses in from behind, his lips brushing the nape of my neck.
Liam’s kisses trail lower, his hands sliding around to cup my breasts, thumbs circling my nipples until they harden under
his touch. I gasp into Knox’s mouth, our tongues tangling in a heated dance that steals my breath, his grip on my waist firm
and possessive. Outside the city hums with a million lives, but it’s nothing compared to what’s building between us, raw and
urgent.
I reach back with one hand, finding Liam’s thigh and digging my nails in, urging him closer. He grinds against me, his arousal
evident through his jeans.
Knox breaks the kiss just long enough to yank his shirt over his head, revealing the hard planes of his chest, marked with faint scars that only make him sexier. I trace one with my fingertip, feeling his heart thud wildly beneath.
“God, you’re fucking beautiful,” Liam praises against my ear as he nips at the lobe. His fingers dip lower, teasing between
my thighs, finding me already wet and ready.
“Get naked. Now,” I order both of them.
They comply without a word, Knox’s eyes darkening with hunger as he strips off his jeans, kicking them aside, his cock springing
free, hard and ready. Liam follows suit, shedding his clothes in a hurried blur, his body lean and powerful, every inch of
him screaming desire. I drink in the sight of them both, my heart pounding, fire erupting in my core.
Knox pulls me back into his arms, his bare skin hot against mine, while Liam circles around, sandwiching me between them.
I feel Liam’s erection pressing against my ass, insistent, as Knox claims my mouth again, deeper this time, his hands roaming
down to grip my thighs and lift me slightly off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist, moaning as the friction sends
sparks through me.
“Take me,” I whisper against Knox’s lips. “Hurt me in the best way possible.”
He lowers me onto the bed with slow intent, his body covering mine like a shield against the world, but there’s no shielding
from this heat. Liam slides in beside us, his hand trailing fire down my side, fingers digging into my hip as if to anchor
me.
“You sure about that?” Knox asks as his lips brush my collarbone before he nips at the skin there, hard enough to sting but
not break. I arch up, a whimper escaping me, loving the bite of pain that blooms into pleasure.
“More,” I demand, my fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him down.
He obliges, his mouth latching onto my breast, sucking and teasing with his teeth, while Liam’s hand slips between my legs again, two fingers plunging inside me without warning.
I cry out, my body clenching around him, the sudden fullness making my head spin.
The pleasure builds in waves, crashing over me as Liam’s fingers curl inside, stroking that perfect spot that has me bucking
against his hand. Knox’s mouth moves to my other breast, his tongue swirling around the peak before he bites down just enough
to send a jolt straight to my core. I gasp, my free hand reaching for Liam’s hair, pulling him closer so his lips find my
shoulder, where he sucks a mark into my skin.
“Knox,” I breathe, my voice ragged, “I need you inside me. Now.”
He lifts his head, eyes blazing with that wolfish intensity I crave, and positions himself between my thighs. Liam withdraws
his fingers, leaving me aching and empty, but only for a moment. Knox thrusts in deep, filling me completely, and I cry out,
my nails raking down his back as the stretch borders on too much, just the way I like it.
Liam shifts, kneeling beside us, his hand wrapping around his cock, stroking slowly as he watches. “That’s it, take him like
a good girl,” he praises before leaning down to capture my lips in a bruising kiss. I moan into his mouth while Knox sets
a punishing rhythm, each drive pushing me higher, the bed creaking under us.
Knox’s hips slam against mine, his hands pinning my wrists above my head. I struggle against his hold, not to escape but to
feel the restraint, the delicious burn of his grip. “Harder,” I beg, and he complies, his teeth grazing my neck, leaving marks
that will linger tomorrow.
Liam breaks the kiss, trailing his mouth down to join Knox’s assault on my senses. He bites at my earlobe, then whispers,
“You’re ours,” before sliding his hand between us to circle my clit, the added pressure making stars explode behind my eyelids.
I arch off the bed, caught in their dual rhythm, pleasure coiling tight in my belly like a spring ready to snap.
“Don’t stop,” I gasp, my body trembling, on the edge of oblivion.
Knox growls low in his throat, thrusting deeper, faster, while Liam’s fingers work me relentlessly.
The wave crests, and I shatter, screaming their names as ecstasy rips through me, my inner walls pulsing around Knox, pulling him over the edge with me.
He follows seconds later, burying his face in my neck with a guttural moan, his release hot and claiming. We collapse in a
tangle of limbs, breaths heaving, but Liam’s still hard against my side, his eyes dark with unspent need. I turn to him, a
wicked smile curving my lips. “Your turn.”
Knox rolls to the side, his chest still rising and falling rapidly, but he watches us with a satisfied smirk, one hand lazily
stroking my thigh as if to remind me he’s not done yet.
I push Liam back against the pillows, straddling his hips, feeling his cock twitch eagerly beneath me. “You’ve been so patient,”
I coo, grinding down just enough to tease, watching his jaw clench with restraint. My hands explore the ridges of his abs,
nails scraping lightly, leaving faint red trails that make him hiss in approval.
“Patience has its rewards,” he rasps, his fingers digging into my hips, guiding me as I position myself over him. I sink down
slowly, savoring the way he fills me, inch by delicious inch, my body still sensitive from the first round. A low moan escapes
me, and I rock my hips, setting a rhythm that’s about drawing out his pleasure, making him beg for more.
Knox shifts closer, his lips brushing my shoulder, then trails kisses down my spine. “Ride him hard, pretty girl,” he encourages.
“Let him stretch that tight pussy of yours with his big dick.” His hand slips between us, finding my clit again, rubbing in
slow circles that match my movements. I gasp, leaning forward to brace myself on Liam’s chest, my breasts brushing his skin
as I pick up the pace.
Liam thrusts up to meet me, his hands roaming to squeeze my ass, pulling me down harder with each stroke. “Fuck, you feel
incredible,” he groans, his head tipping back, exposing the column of his throat. I lean in, nipping at it, sucking a mark
that mirrors the ones they’ve left on me, claiming him right back.
The intensity builds again, faster this time, my body coiling tight around him.
Knox’s fingers don’t let up, and he reaches around with his other hand to pinch my nipple, twisting just enough to send a spike of pain-laced pleasure straight to my core.
I cry out, my movements turning frantic, chasing that peak once more.
Liam’s control snaps, his hips bucking wildly beneath me, driving deep. “Come with me,” he demands, his voice strained, and
that’s all it takes. The orgasm hits me like a thunderclap, ripping through every nerve, my vision blurring as I clench around
him. He follows with a shout, spilling inside me, his body shuddering in release.
We collapse together, a sweaty, satisfied heap, with Knox wrapping his arms around us both. Outside, the city hums on. In
here, our breaths sync in the quiet.
Later, tangled in sheets that need washing, Liam traces patterns on my hip.
“New Year’s Eve,” he says. “That’s when we face everything?”
“That’s when we start,” Knox confirms.
Four more days. The three of us.
I close my eyes, pressed between two heartbeats. My apartment with its dried roses and dark walls.
It’s not the cabin.
It’s home.